But My Father Calls Me, Nessa
by aDragonsTrueColors
Summary: Set not long after Iron Man 3, the Avengers are about to move into a new home. But surprises abound as a ghost calls from the grave to haunt Tony with claims that Agent Coulson may still be alive. And JARVIS is about to find out that he's not alone in the world any more. But can an AI feel emotion? It's going to take a loving father's dieing wish to set every right in this epic!
1. Chapter 1

**Surely someone has done a story like this before. If I have accidentally copied any one's idea, please let me know. This is all coming from my own head, but like I said, I imagine someone might have done something similar before already. If not, yay me! **

"Alright every one time to pack your bags! Let's Go! Up! Up! Up!" Tony Stark startled every one as he walked into the briefing room at Stark Tower.

"What's this all about Tony? It took everything I had to get Natasha to sit down. Watching her pace for an hour was starting to get to me." Clint asked as he sat with his feet up on the table, casually picking at his nails with an arrow. The rest of the Avengers sat around the table with bored, but curious looks on their faces.

"Yes, what is this about Tony? I've had nothing to tell any of them other than I gathered them all here because it's important." asked Pepper who had been sitting on the far side of the room. The look on her face told Tony that she wasn't impressed by him being late.

"It is important honey! It's…" Tony tried to explain but he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"It's about our future." The stoic director Fury replied as he came in behind Stark. "It's time we had a base of operations for our team. And Mr. Stark here has finally finished building it for us."

"That's what we've been waiting here for?" Natasha asked sounding slightly irritated.

"I personally voted that we base our selves' right here in my…" Tony was interrupted again by a forced cough from the other side of the room. He looked over to see Pepper glaring at him.

"I'm sorry, _our_ tower. But the director here insisted that we shouldn't be just sitting in one place and after our last incident in a flying fortress, he convinced me to build us something new." Tony said.

"Didn't we learn our lesson last time about putting me in a tight area? Besides, I thought we were all doing just fine spread out on our own." said Dr. Banner. He had been falling asleep on the table but now seemed to be wide awake.

"Indeed, the Hulk is quite a challenge to subdue in a tight space, Mr. Fury." boomed Thor.

"And he did do a lot of damage to the flying carrier." said Captain Rogers chiming in.

"Mr. Stark assures me that everything is in order, Dr. Banner. There will be plenty of space for all of you. This is going to be your new home. And it's also going to allow us to deploy you around the globe as fast as possible when things come up. The decision has been made, now pack your things and prepare to move out. The plane leaves in an hour." Director Fury issued his orders before turning to leave the room.

"And just what should we be bringing?" Natasha asked, still sounding slightly agitated.

"Oh don't worry about that, my dear." replied Tony in his confident tone as he smiled. "I've taken care of everything! You guys just bring your smiling faces."

Natasha shot him a glare before standing up with the others. The rest of the team moved to prepare themselves to leave, leaving just Tony and Pepper in the room. She gave him a curious look as he just stood there and stared. "What'd I do?" he asked, trying to sound innocent.

"What was that show earlier with blowing up all of you suits? I thought you were done with this whole thing." She asked, trying to hide a small amount of hurt in her voice.

"I am done honey." Tony said as he walked around the table before kneeling next to Pepper while she still sat in her chair. "I'm not going with them. I networked the ship with the tower so if they absolutely need me, I can do anything I have to from right here, right in my lab. That leaves me right here, with you." he said with a smile.

"And I suppose they'll never 'absolutely need you', right?" she said with an air of sarcasm.

"I can't imagine why they would." Tony replied, his voice giving away that he knew he was clearly in trouble. "That fortress I built them practically runs itself. Besides, without the suits, and now without a glowing mini-arc reactor in my chest, I'm just a simple, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist… with a future wife to attend to." Pepper's expression changed immediately to a look of shock as she smiled.

"What was that last part?" she asked, trying to hide the excitement in her voice. But Tony had stood up and was quickly retreating. "Tony!" she said pleadingly as he reached the door.

"Hmmm? Oh yes that's right, would you have dinner with me tonight? Say, around six-ish?" he said as he spun around and braced himself between the door.

"Well of course but…"

"Great, I'll see you tonight. Love you honey." Tony interrupted as he turned around and left. Pepper sat at the table dumbfounded at what had just happened, but she couldn't help but smile and laugh to herself a little. A rush of thought's came into her mind as she imagined what it would be like if Tony Stark were to actually propose to a woman. But her fantasies were soon interrupted as her cell phone went off, signaling that Stark Industries wasn't going to wait for her to have an imagination.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a bright sunny day as Captain Rogers looked out the window of the S.H.I.E.L.D. airborne personnel carrier to try to see their destination. "So where exactly is this thing? And more importantly, what is it?" he asked the pilot. But before the pilot could answer him…

"It's right in front of us, Sir" said a familiar voice in a slightly British accent over the jet's intercom.

"JARVIS?" asked Steve sounding confused.

"Yes, sir. Mr. Stark has interfaced me with both this jet and the fortress. And that pilot you are speaking to isn't actually there, sir." Said JARVIS as a light seemingly came on beneath the pilot before he flickered and disappeared along with the light.

"So who's flying the plane?" asked Steve sounding very concerned all of a sudden.

"No worries, sir, I have control of the plane and we will be docking with the Coulson shortly." said JARVIS. He may have been just a computer, but his voice was strangely comforting.

"Wait, the Coulson? You mean the fortress?" asked Steve.

"Yes, sir. Mr. Stark submitted the name to Director Fury shortly after he built it. I think it's his way of honoring Mr. Coulson now that he's gone." There was a hint of sadness in JARVIS's voice that surprised Steve a little.

"I still don't see it." Said Steve.

"One moment, sir"

Steve looked on as a line formed in the sky before widening to reveal a hangar. But there was nothing around it, it looked like there was just an open hangar bay floating in the sky. "Welcome to the U.S.S. Coulson." said JARVIS as the jet came to a soft landing inside the hangar. The hangar itself wasn't very large, it was only big enough to fit about four jets in it.

"I thought he said it wasn't going to be cramped." complained Bruce as walked down the back ramp of the jet.

"This is just the hangar, sir." said JARVIS's voice as it echoed around the hangar. "The living quarters are in mid-ship and we are currently at the rear of the ship. Please follow the blue line to the conference room for the orientation." As he spoke, a light from a projector came on in the hangar, projecting a bright blue line with moving arrows on the ground leading to a hatch at the back of the hangar. But other than JARVIS's voice, no one else seemed to be around.

"Seems oddly empty for a flying carrier." said Clint as he walked through the hatch with the others, following the blue line. As they came into a large hallway, the line went to the end where the hallway made a "T" and veered right.

"It's not technically a carrier." said JARVIS as his voice was now coming from the hallway. "The Coulson was designed as a quote, 'self-sufficient stealth destroyer slash apartment complex', as Mr. Stark describes it."

"So you mean the ship is empty?" asked Natasha as they rounded a corner.

"Not entirely, miss. There is a small medical team aboard to handle any and all needs you all might have. There is also a small maintenance crew in case of emergencies should I not be able to make any repairs that arise myself." Said JARVIS. The Avengers followed the arrow as it lead them into a large conference room. The table was sideways to them and was facing a large window that gave view to a large living area several feet below. They all approached the window and looked out to see that there was a small fountain in the middle with a column and an elevator next to it, an over-sized kitchen, some tables, a couple large couches sitting in front of gigantic TV's, and a hallway that lead off to several doorways on either side of it.

The window suddenly went opaque though as a bright light shined on it. They all turned around to be blinded by a projector shining very brightly at them.

"Take a seat ladies and gentlemen." said Director Fury's voice coming over an intercom system. They all sat down around the table and looked to see the director on the screen. "Welcome to your new home." He said as the briefing table came a light. The Avengers looked on in subtle awe as a hologram of the ship they were on rose up out of the table. From the onset it looked very large, but then the image changed so that the insides of the ship could be seen. This thing was massive.

Steve wasn't able to hide his awed expression as he reached out to point at a red highlighted area on the ship that looked like a small conference room with them sitting in it. "Is that us?" he asked.

"Yes, Captain, that is you. As you can see, your living area has ample room for all of you. There's a working state of the art laboratory just beyond that, and if you take an elevator from the living quarters, you can access the bridge up above or down below." As the director spoke, the image moved to highlight the things he was talking about, showcasing each feature of the ship.

"On the top of the ship there's three high powered rail guns and a number of high caliber turrets, and below there's one large rail gun and several smaller conventional weapons in case the rail guns lose power. But this ship wasn't built strictly for combat." the director continued on.

"It's not?" asked Bruce sounding surprised.

"On the contrary, Doctor, this ship isn't meant for direct combat. However, should it have to get into a fight, it should hold its own. JARVIS has been put in control of all of the ships major systems, including defense, and can react quickly with deadly force if it becomes necessary. In the meantime, the outer hull is heavily armored and painted with a special material that makes it difficult to detect by radar, and it becomes very reflective when exposed to high intensity infra-red light." The director continued the orientation as the image over the table seemed to zoom out, revealing several smaller craft buzzing around the outside.

"Those randomly moving drones you see there are using a similar camouflage that we used for the carrier. But each one is carrying a special projector that is constantly shining a high intensity light on the hull. This ship won't be visible in daylight so long as at least half of the drones are in the air." The director was about to continue on but was interrupted by Barton.

"But what about at night? If anyone happens to be outside with even a set of cheap night vision goggles, this ship will be bright as day." he pointed out, sounding concerned.

"You're partially correct, Agent Barton, actually, if any poor soul were to look at this ship with any lens that depends on infra-red, they'll be looking at an image that's as bright as the sun. But at night the drones will dock with the ship, and you'll be relying on the black exterior of the ship. But that should be plenty. And finally, there's six turbines keeping this thing afloat. If you lose more than two, you better find some water to land in. I'll be in touch with you all eventually. In the meantime, make your selves acquainted with your new home. Fury out." The projector turned off and the window went back to its original state, revealing once again the large living area below.

"Well, I guess we better make ourselves at home. "said Steve as they all got up to leave the room. But before they got to the door…

"Hey guys come take a look at this." said Clint as he walked to the back of the room. The rest of the Avengers followed up behind him to see a golden plaque on the wall. There was an outline of all of the Avengers standing together embossed onto the plaque with words written below it.

"_In loving memory of Agent Phil Coulson."_

"I still can't believe he's gone." said Natasha.

"Neither can I, but thanks to him, we're all together now." said Clint with a heavy heart. They all stood in a moment of silence before JARVIS came over the intercom system.

"If you'll all follow the blue line, I'll guide you to your living quarters. There's a gym on the aft side of the ship and a shooting range on the port side. Showering facilities are located in the Agent Coulson is alive. If you get hungry…" JARVIS was about to continue on before a stunned Natasha interrupted him.

"Wait, what did you just say, JARVIS?" she asked as the others clearly heard it too.

"I said, if you get hungry…"

"No before that." said Clint.

"My apologies, the showering facilities are located in each individual room." said JARVIS as though nothing had happened.

"Is everything alright, JARVIS?" asked Banner.

"Yes, sir. All diagnostics show that I am Tony Stark come to 11486, Boston drive, New York, or Agent Coulson will die… Is everything alright, Dr. Banner?"

"I think you better call Stark and find us some water to land in." said Dr. Banner

"But sir, I assure you I am in perfect working order." said JARVIS in his defense.

"Then what is that?" asked Dr. Banner as the other members of the team turned to see him pointing at the view screen where Director Fury was before. But instead of the window giving a view of the living areas, it had turned back on with the projector and had an image of two crossed swords and a number of other symbols on it.

"What is what, sir?" asked JARVIS sounding confused.

"The Mandarin?" said Clint, also sounding confused.

"How is this possible?" said Natasha.

"JARVIS…" said Captain America in best commanding voice.

"Yes, sir?"

"Call Tony. And I think you better hurry."

"Yes, sir. Right away." said JARVIS.

"And call the director too. I think we might have a problem." said Clint as he and Natasha looked back again at the plaque. The look they then gave towards each other was clearly asking if it could be possible. But they both turned and walked away before they accidentally got their hopes up. 


	3. Chapter 3

The night air was warm and the sky was almost perfectly clear with a full moon shining down from above onto Stark Tower. The candles on the table flickered as Tony adjusted the bottle of champagne he had placed in a bucket of ice. He checked again to make sure the chairs were straight before sticking a finger in his mouth and pulling it back out again to check the wind. Everything was set and this night was going to be…

"Perfect. JARVIS how is our after party?" said Tony with a strange air of concern in his voice.

"Everything is ready to go, sir. Are you sure that you don't want me to tell you about the fortress, sir?" asked JARVIS again for the third time now.

"JARVIS… we talked about this. There will be no interruptions tonight, I don't care if the world is ending, the sun is exploding, or aliens have already invaded." said Tony, sounding clearly annoyed. "This is my night and it's going to be perfect."

"Yes, sir, quite perfect. She's almost here, sir. Are you sure you're ready for this?" asked JARVIS in a caring British tone.

"Of course I'm ready! Now, we've got the champagne, two chairs, candles are lit, starry night, full moon, after-surprise, and…..the ring…. JARVIS where's the ring?" asked a now panicked Tony as he frantically patted himself up and down and looked under the table.

"It's over here by the bar, sir, next to that bottle of brandy you opened. Shall I play some music for you?" JARVIS began playing a soft piano medley over the tower's intercom. But Tony hadn't even noticed as he bolted over to the bar to grab the ring in its box and put it in his pocket seconds before the elevator doors opened. He ran back to the patio where the table was just in time to turn around and see Pepper step out of the elevator.

He almost had to check himself because he could have sworn his heart had stopped completely. She wore a silk white gown that flowed over her tiny figure. Her hair was let down and flowed in waves over her shoulders as the moon glinted off of the matching diamond earrings and necklace that he had given her the money to go shopping for her birthday present. He had seen this woman so many times before, but tonight, she looked like a perfect porcelain doll. She was beautiful.

"Sir, it's been almost a minute now since you stopped breathing." said JARVIS through a hidden ear piece that Tony had been wearing.

"Yes, thank you JARVIS." Tony quietly thanked JARVIS through clenched teeth before removing the ear piece and putting it in his pocket. "You look absolutely breathtaking." He said as he walked up to Pepper and embraced her near the table. "And that necklace I got you was clearly a good choice."

"I thought it would look nice." said Pepper before closing her eyes to kiss Tony. They kissed passionately for quite some time before Tony pulled away.

"Mmmmm I got us some champagne." he said as he pulled away to pull a chair for Pepper. As he sat her down, he sharked his way around her neck and gave her another quick kiss on the lips before quickly sitting in his own chair. He took the champagne out of its bucket and started to undo the cork.

"So I've been doing a lot of thinking…" he said as the cork popped and shot off into the night sky. He then started to fill both of their glasses.

"About what?" asked Pepper, trying her absolute best to be casual. She could clearly see Tony was almost squirming and it was an absolute delight to behold.

"You run Stark Industries in its entirety. And you have kept me in line as long as I've known you. Matter of fact, I would be completely lost without you. And after the Mandarin…" Tony's face grew very dark and Pepper could see the pain in his eyes.

"Tony, it's alright. We both made it through and now we're here." She said as she reached across the table and put her hands in his. They both sat in silence, staring into each other's eyes.

"I know what's important know. I know what I want. It's taken me a long time to put things in order so that I can give you the time that you deserve. And now that I'm all done, there's only one thing left to do. You mean everything to me, Pepper… " Tony held on to her hands as he moved around the table and got on one knee in front of her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small case. Pepper tried her absolute best to keep the tears that were now rapidly welling up in her eyes back, but it was completely futile. And then Tony opened the case.

The ring inside was not something you would expect from a billionaire playboy. It's wasn't gaudy and huge, and it was nothing like what the celebrities wore. It was small and made of white gold. And in the middle of it was set a perfect princess cut diamond. There wasn't an endless stream of money behind this ring. This was a ring that was thought about long and hard. It was perfect. And then she looked back up to see his eyes.

"Pepper Pots, CEO of Stark Industries, light that has guided me through my darkest days, and friend who has stuck by my side in spite all of the frustration I cause you …. Will you marry me?" Tony's gaze revealed that his unshakable confidence was clearly faltering. And then she saw it, a perfect moment of vulnerability. Here he was, this cocky, rich, playboy who has gotten every last thing he's ever asked for in his entire life, and now that there's something in front of him that he truly wants, there's the slight chance he won't get it. And he's terrified!

A huge part of Pepper wanted to relish the moment and torture this man as much as possible for all the time it has taken him to finally commit to her. But as she looked into his eyes and saw that vulnerability, it almost scared her and made her want to be protective of him.

"I do… I mean yes! Yes! Of course yes!" Pepper shook herself as she said it, her mind was a mess right now and saying a simple word had clearly become difficult.

"JARVIS!" Tony shouted into the tower, "Run program: 'she said yes.'" Without a word from JARVIS, several loud booms sounded as dozens of large fireworks shot up from the tower to shower the night sky in bright colors. Pepper's eyes widened in shock at what Tony had done.

"You had this planned if I said yes?" she asked in shock. "Did you even tell the city? The city works council is going to have a fit!" she continued as she was now scolding Tony. But he ignored her and pulled her up out of her chair before picking her up off of her feet.

"I can't believe this." she said as Tony carried her off towards the bedroom. "So what exactly were you going to do if I said no?" she asked quizzically.

Tony looked at her and gave her his classic cocky smile. "Honestly?... the thought had never crossed my crossed my mind."

…

The next morning Tony woke up to the sun shining brightly in his face. He stretched in bed and looked over at his still sleeping bride to be. He quietly got out of bed and decided that today would be a perfect day to treat Pepper to breakfast in bed. He sauntered out into the main area and walked up to the bar to pour himself a quick celebratory drink before going to prepare breakfast. He went behind the bar and picked out a rare bottle of whisky that he had been holding on to. He had just cracked the seal on the bottle and was about to pour himself a glass when a voice rang out from the patio.

"You know, you may have fixed your electronic security so that we can't hack your systems, but your internal security still needs work."

Tony pulled out another glass and filled it before walking out on to the patio, wearing nothing but his robe. "Director Fury! To what do I owe the displeasure on what would be the morning after I just got engaged?" he said sarcastically as he handed Fury a glass.

The director had a folder in front of him and he slid it across the table as Tony moved across from him to take a seat. But as he sat down he slid the folder back at the director. "Whatever it is, I'm not interested. I've got much bigger things to be worrying about like that breakfast that I'm supposed to be bringing my new fiancé… did I mention I was engaged?… to her before she wakes up." he said sounding very serious now.

Director Fury sat back in his chair. "I know you got engaged. And congratulations. I'm actually the one who made sure that no one came trying to bother you about those fireworks you set off last night. But you're going to want to see this. "he said in his typically deathly serious tone.

"While I appreciate the sentiment, Director, there's nothing in the world right now that could interest me more than what I've already got going on right now." said Tony as he sipped on his drink.

"JARVIS…"

"Yes, Director Fury?"

"Did you tell Mr. Stark here about the breach in your programming?" asked the director while locking his one good eye with Tony's just in time to see him choke on his drink. Tony immediately started coughing violently as the stiff drink had traveled "down the wrong pipe".

Trying the best he could while sputtering, "What's he talking about JARVIS?" asked Tony as a strange feeling of dread washed over him.

"What's going on honey?" asked Pepper who was now standing nearby in a doorway, also wearing a robe. Tony turned to see his bride to be and shrank into his chair. He felt like he was barely two feet tall as she walked out on to the patio to join them.

"Yes, well I'm dreadfully sorry, sir, but you explicitly told me not to bother you for anything. But as it is now the next morning and your engagement dinner is over with, I should inform you that someone has managed to hack into my programming without my notice to leave you a message." said JARVIS. He was always quite charming so it was difficult to ever feel any amount of frustration with him.

"Someone is claiming that Agent Coulson is alive." said Fury. "And they hacked into your programming so well, that we can't find any trace that a hack ever even took place. And now they want you, Mr. Stark, to meet them at house here in New York."

"Phil's alive!?" asked now worriedly excited Pepper as she approached the two sitting gentlemen. "We have to go save him!"

"We don't know if this is for real." Director Fury said as he raised his hand. "As far as we know the Mandarin is still dead and this is just someone trying to lure Tony out into a trap."

"The Mandarin?" Tony asked as he perked up and set his drink down. Pepper saw the look of seriousness come over his face as she moved over to sit in his lap.

"I watched Pepper kill him. I saw him die. This is obviously some two-bit imposter trying to get a rise out of me." said Tony. Pepper could feel him tensing up beneath her.

"A two-bit imposter that made child's play out of your programming. And they made sure to give us clues that the Mandarin is involved. Whoever this is, they are extremely dangerous." said Director Fury as a look of concern started to show on his face.

"But if Phil might be alive, we have to do something." Pepper said as she turned to look at Tony. And as she looked into his eyes she saw it again, that same vulnerability from before. It was easy to see, he had finally done it. He had given up being the hero so that he could commit to a life with her. But now someone that they both cared about might be alive and in danger and Tony might be his only hope. It was very strange… She knew she wanted to protect him, but in order to truly do that she would have to encourage him to go put his life in harm's way.

Tony continued to look into her eyes, his helplessness becoming almost palpable. "Tony, if there's even the slightest chance that Phil is alive, then we have to do something. I can't do much, but you can." she said as she gave him a warm smile.

A mountain of frustration was cascading down in Tony's head, but he kept it to himself. He felt an immense guilt as he felt that he was somehow breaking a promise that he had made to Pepper, and to himself. But hearing her give him permission….easy permission…too easy… "Are you sure?" he asked, still looking into her eyes.

"What do you mean, 'am I sure?', of course I'm sure! It's Phil! We have to help him!" she shouted at Tony. And now it was gone, the vulnerability was protected and she could see it replaced by what was now his typical, unshakable resolve.

"Well then, I guess we better get to work." Tony said as he reached forward to pick up the folder after Pepper hopped off his lap.

"I'm going to get dressed and get you some breakfast and coffee." Pepper said with a smile as hopped off to the bedroom to change.

"Thanks hon!" Tony called after his retreating fiancé as he poured over the file that Fury gave him.

"There's a plane waiting for you whenever you're ready." said the director as he got up to leave.

"Plane? Oh, I'm not going anywhere." said Tony, without ever looking up from the file.

"Come again?" asked the director as he raised an eyebrow.

"I can't leave now, there's too much work to be done. I'll catch up with you guys." Tony spoke as he continued to pour over his document.

"Well don't take too long. If Agent Coulson is still alive, he might not have much time." said the director in a much more worried tone. But his tone was lost on Tony as he kept on reading.

"Oh, don't worry, Director. If Coulson is still alive, I'll be there personally to see it."


	4. Chapter 4

The cargo bay of the Avenger's jet was completely silent save for the constant hum of the jet's twin rotors and jet engine. Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and a disturbingly calm Bruce Banner all sat quietly as thoughts about the mission raced through their head. Even Hawkeye was completely distracted from the fact that there wasn't even a human behind the controls inside the cockpit. Each of them tried to reason whether or not Phil might actually be alive. As Steve looked around, he could see each of them trying to imagine what was ahead. Even he was guilty of it.

"There's no point in wondering whether or not Phil is actually alive. We need to be prepared for anything. This might all be just a trap." he said as everyone continued to stare off in their own little worlds.

"Oh it's most definitely a trap." said Natasha as she checked both of her pistols to make sure that a round was chambered. "And if whoever this is, is lying to us about Phil, they better hope they can crawl deep enough into a hole where I can't find them…"

"Not if I get to him first." Hawkeye spoke through his teeth as he rested his elbows on his knees and squeezed his hands together. "I've got a new arrow that I think would find a lovely home inside of a liar."

Thor looked over at the others as they readied themselves. They were now flying over the outskirts of New York City as he tightened his grip on his hammer. "If the Son of Coul _is _still alive, then we may have to make haste to see that he is rescued. Somehow I don't think he'll be here waiting for us…" he boomed as he walked over to the window to look at the city.

"_We'll reach the target area in 60 seconds." _JARVIS's voice rang out from the PA in the cargo hold.

"No, he won't be here. And you're right, we are going to have to move fast if Agent Coulson is alive. It wouldn't be that easy. Whoever this is, they know they have our full attention." said Dr. Banner as he joined Thor next to the window. "It looks like there's a residential area below. I better stay with the jet until you guys have cleared the area. I wouldn't want _him_ running through a populated neighborhood."

Steve got up to join them and look at the situation. The jet flew over a nice looking suburb before coming to a halt as it hovered over a large 3 story house at the end of a cul-de-sac. It was fairly dilapidated on the outside and stood out like a sore thumb. It had a large lawn in the front that looked like it hadn't been maintained in some time. What was left of its white exterior was chipping and peeling off along with a few choice pieces of siding. It had large windows on the bottom floor, but there were large curtains blocking them from the inside, preventing any one from looking in. As Steve looked closer, he could see windows along the base of the house, telling him that there was also a basement.

"You're right, Bruce, we'll head down and check things out." said Steve as he put his mask on and walked towards the back of the bay as the bay doors opened. "JARVIS, stay in the neighborhood in case we end up needing the big guy. We'll make this as quick as possible."

"_Yes, Sir. We'll be right here if you need us." _said JARVIS in his assuring tone.

As the jet lowered itself to just a few feet of the ground, the team, minus Bruce, jumped down and ran furiously towards the front door of the house. This was it, the moment of truth before finding out if their friend was still alive. They knew what was at stake, but deep down the Avengers were pissed. And woe is any one inside that house that tried to stand in their way.

"Hawkeye, Widow, you guys head up top! Thor, you're with me! Let's knock and see if anyone is home!" Steve shouted his orders and as the team split up. Clint and Natasha quickly scaled the outside of the house to the top floor before making their way in through a window as Thor raised his hammer before bringing it down in a crushing blow on the front door, sending it inward in an explosive shower of splinters. Captain America was hot on his heels as he entered the house before splitting off to clear it room by room.

Bruce stood, waiting patiently, at the end of the loading ramp as the jet hovered and slowly circled the house. He felt strange as he could feel the monster inside him swirling around. It was almost as if it was giddy; eager to fight. But this wasn't the time or the place. There were probably families in the houses next door and the Hulk wasn't very good at being inconspicuous. But it was difficult as he too wanted to fight. He was angry and didn't like the feeling that he was being toyed with. He reached over and wrapped his hand around the hydraulic piston that was holding the bay door in place. His eyes flashed green as he felt the anger welling up inside him. His grip tightened as thoughts of the enemy being right there in front of him flashed and here he was, standing silently as he listened to the quiet on the radio through his ear piece. It wouldn't be long before he couldn't control it any more. It was right there at the surface just about to….

"All clear." Steve's voice rang out over the radio, distracting Bruce from his rage. "Dr. Banner, I think you're going to want to come take a look at this."

...

Bruce stepped carefully over the splintered wreckage that was the front door. He had do cover his nose as the air had been fouled for some time now and wreaked of filth…and something else… As he looked to his right, he saw a living room that had been littered with pizza boxes and food wrappers along with several empty bottles of cola. There was a small, hideously lime green recliner in front of a small TV that was old enough to have the tinfoil wrapped rabbit ears on top. In front of him was a staircase that went up before turning and on the side of it was a door that probably lead down to the basement. As he ventured left he entered a very dirty kitchen with stained walls, a kitchen sink over flowing with dishes, and more litter scattered about on a kitchen table. This place seemed strangely familiar to him. "Huh…classic bachelor pad" he muttered to himself.

"Dr. Banner! We're down here!" he heard Steve's voice ring out from the basement stairwell.

As he approached the top of the stairs, the smell became over powering. He tried his best to cover his face with the inside of his shirt, but it didn't really help. As he looked down the stairs, the walls were covered in wiring that lead under the flooring of the first floor. There were hundreds of thick black wires that came out and followed the stairwell down and around a corner. He carefully made his way down to the bottom where it came to a dead end before turning to the left. As he turned the corner, he had to fight from letting his mouth fall agape. There before him, was a large rectangular room with rack after rack of electronic equipment all the way around the edges. The rest of the team was standing around a large workbench in the center of the room looking at a large monolith at the far end. As he made his way closer, he noticed a pair of feet sticking out from behind the work bench, but the rest of the team didn't seem to be overly concerned about it.

"Was he alone?" Bruce asked while trying to keep from letting the air inside of his mouth.

"He's been dead for some time." said Natasha as she and Hawkeye moved to either side of the monolith to see if there was anything behind it.

"Yeah, I hadn't noticed." Bruce said sarcastically.

"Dr. Banner, what do you make of this?" asked Steve as he pointed to some blue, metallic letters that were on the front of it.

As Bruce got closer, he noticed an optical lens at the top of what he assumed was a machine of some sort. It was about four feet wide and went all the way up to the ceiling which made it about six and a half feet tall. It was quite large. He wondered to himself how heavy it was as his eyes followed Steve's finger.

"_N.E.S.S.A."_

"N.E.S.S.A.?" Bruce was again muttering to himself.

"Any idea what that means?" Natasha asked Bruce as she came back around to the front.

"Not a clue." Bruce said whimsically before continuing to mutter to himself. "What is this place?"

"Perhaps the Son of Coul is trapped inside this…monolith." Thor boomed as he began to swing his hammer.

"I seriously doubt they trapped Phil inside of a projector casing." said a new voice coming from the base of the stairs.

"It's good to see you, Tony, I think we could use your help." said Bruce after every one turned to see Tony Stark bracing himself in the doorway and leaning to investigate where all the cables were coming from and going to. But the moment he stepped forward into the room, everything came alive. Thousands of red lights came on and began flashing and flickering on all of the machines that were lining the walls as the monolith started to hum.

"And a good day to you, Stripes. I see we've already started the party without me. So, who's the stiff?" Tony asked in his cocky tone.

"Actually I don't think the party was ready until you got here." said Bruce as he put his hands on the monolith. "This place was completely turned off until you stepped through the door."

"Are we in danger?" asked a tense Clint as he reached back to secure an arrow and Natasha drew her guns to be on the safe side.

"_No harm will come to any who are here. You have my word on that, Mr. Stark." _An old, raspy voice was now coming out from a hidden speaker system as the lens on top of the Monolith lit up. The team looked around as gas started to rise up from the work bench in the middle of the room.

"Gas!" shouted Steve as the rest of the Avengers, minus Tony and Bruce, braced themselves.

"Take it easy, Hero, it's probably just nitrogen. And it's probably for the projector." said Tony as he walked over to the monolith to investigate it.

He was just starting to figure out how to open up the side of the monolith when he was interrupted. "Tony…." said Bruce as he looked on towards the workbench.

"Not now, I've almost got it open." Tony said as he wormed his fingers behind some paneling.

"Look…"

Tony grudgingly stopped what he was doing to turn around and look at the workbench. The clear gas had risen like a fog above the table and the projector was now projecting an image of a wiry old man onto the table. His eyes were a gentle blue, but they were sunk into his skull. He had a few wisps of grey-white hair that were combed over to hide the man's balding. He looked very somber with a long beard that draped down the front of a very colorful, and very out of place Hawaiian shirt. But thankfully the wiry figure was wearing a pair of jeans instead of some tropical shorts as he leaned against an ornate cane that was ivory white with a silvery dragon on top.

"I think this must be our stiff." said Natasha as she holstered her weapons.

"_My name is Gable Martin. If you are watching this, then I assume I have passed on already. But I hope you're not too late."_

"What's he mean by too late?" asked Steve sounding worried.

"Well, let's see what the man has to say and find out." said Tony as he crossed his arms and watched on.

"_I have worked for many bad men throughout my life, but it was necessary for my work. I couldn't get the funding I needed any other way. One of my employers included The Mandarin. I can't even begin to ask for your forgiveness, Mr. Stark, but I hope you'll listen and hear what I have to say." _

Tony's eyes flared as he turned back around and continued tearing away at the monolith, trying to pry it open to get at its insides.

"_I have hacked into every network on the planet. I'm the reason The Mandarin was able to send his messages out at will. I'm the reason he had access to top secret information. And I share some of the responsibility for the atrocities committed in his name."_

"Yeah, well keep talking, I've almost got you open you son of a bitch." said Tony through his teeth as he continued prying away at the side of the monolith.

"Tony, this thing might tell us where Phil is." said Steve as he watched Tony try with increasing aggravation to tear into the side of the monolith.

"It's not going to tell us anything!" Tony shouted as he continued. "This man worked for the Mandarin, so we can't believe a word he says."

"_I apologize for hacking into your networks, Mr. Stark, but it was necessary to tell you where to find me. I've brought you here to make a deal."_

"Tony, stop. He's going to tell us where Agent Coulson is." said Steve as he started to walk towards Tony who was ignoring him. But before he could reach him, Natasha had already moved silently behind him and grabbed him from behind, holding him in a tight grapple as she turned him towards the hologram on the table.

"I want to hear what he has to say. If there's even the slightest chance he knows where Phil is..." Natasha said as Tony struggled to get free.

"It doesn't matter what he says, it's going to be a lie now let me go!" shouted Tony as he became increasingly erratic.

"_In my dealings with various networks around the globe, I found a trace of one of your top agents, Phil Coulson. He's being held by an off world operative that has somehow made its way here. I couldn't gather much more information as to why it's here, but it has something to do with what happened not long ago here in New York. I, myself, have had some dealings with alien species and I am partially responsible for the break in at your facility when the tesseract was stolen. I was the one that activated it to bring that alien into the facility. But please understand, I needed their help in order to finish her."_

"Well now we know he's lying. Captain, this man was nothing more than hacker scum that has aided our enemies in the deaths of hundreds of people." There was a deathly seriousness in Tony's voice as he continued off and on in futility trying to escape from the hold that the Black Widow had him in.

"_The device at the end of the room emitting this projection houses and operates a Neuron Emulating Synaptic Simulating Algorithm. I named her Nessa after a woman that would have been my wife… had the fates been different. But I suppose it was not meant to be. I've spent my entire life alone with only ever a want for a family. But as I could not make a family with a woman… for numerous reasons… I decided the only thing left was to create a child with my mind. And, using what materials I could gather, I began building the unit you see behind you. And with the help of some men whom I sold my soul too, I was finally able to bring her to life."_

"This sick maniac burned dozens of families just so that he could make his toys to make himself feel less lonely." Tony said as he finally relaxed and quit fighting against Natasha.

"_I can never bring back those that I helped to destroy, but maybe my life's work can be made to do good for the world. My daughter is innocent in all of this, she had nothing to do with any of my hackings. She merely gave me the processing power I needed, nothing more. She's self-aware, Mr. Stark, she's really truly alive. And she's the most precious thing in the world to me."_

With Tony calmed down, Natasha let him go. But she was keeping a close eye on him as his eyes darted around the room, scanning.

"_So I make you this proposal, Mr. Stark, because you're the only man alive that can help me. My daughter will help you find your lost agent, but first you must get her out of this house and move her somewhere safe. I've made many powerful enemies, Mr. Stark, and despite my best efforts, they will eventually find this place and take her. Any I can't imagine the horrors that might befall her, should she fall into the wrong hands. When I say she is innocent, I mean just that. I tried to place her age, but getting an exact number was impossible. If I had to guess, I'd say she is an inexperienced and slightly developmentally challenged 13 year old. She follows the basic confines of reason and logic, but she is capable of experiencing emotion."_

Tony's eyes stopped suddenly as they locked onto the gentle blue eyes of the hologram. Everyone in the room was slightly shocked, but none of them understood why they should be shocked better than Tony did. 

"_That's right, Mr. Stark, Nessa feels emotion. But she's only been operational for a year now and she hasn't figured out all the things necessary to cope with her emotions. She's highly intelligent, but she lacks experience and therefor maturity. I did my best as a parent and a father to instil good judgment in her through line after line of code filled with morality based logic, but her emotions conflict with her coding, making her unpredictable. But she has the processing power of a thousand super computers so she is not to be taken lightly. But she truly is innocent, just like I said. You'll see. She's the brightest thing I've ever brought into this world, Mr. Stark. Please, take good care of her."_

The image of the old man vanished off of the table as the thousands of red lights around the room suddenly changed to green and began flickering even faster as the monolith began to hum louder. The room started to vibrate as the hum turned into a pulsating rhythm that started out slow, but increased rapidly in speed. The lens at the top of the machine shined brighter and the Avengers shielded their eyes as the whole room flooded with light before fading to reveal a young woman, standing in the fog on the work bench.

Her hair was almost auburn and cut short with a swish to one side. Her eyes were a deep violet and they seemed to almost glow as she knelt down on the bench to see over the other side. She was very skinny and wore a brightly colored Hawaiian dress. The Avenger's stood in shock; for a hologram, she looked almost real.

"_Daddy? Daddy wake up….Please…Please wake up." _Her voice was young and innocent, just like Gable said, as it faded into a whisper. _"Please….Please….. please please please" _she pleaded as holographic tears flowed down her face.

Natasha moved to try to comfort the girl as if she could somehow touch her, but she was stopped as Clint held his arm across her. Her look told him that she needed to do something, but he simply shook his head. They weren't sure what this was yet or whether or not it could be dangerous.

"_No…. you can't be gone… you just can't… I can't be all alone. I can't…. I can't do this… it's too much!" _the holographic girl continued to sob.

Tony opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but for some reason, he was only able to produce silence as the rest of the avengers stood in awe at what they were witnessing. But the wonder of the moment was quickly lost as the monolith began to pulsate again, humming very loud as the green lights around the room flashed incoherently. The whole house started to shake as the humming grew louder and louder.

"Tony?" said Steve as though he expected him to do something to fix what was happening, but it was too late. The humming continued to grow in intensity as the lens on top of the monolith began to shine brighter and brighter.

"_Please… just wake up….." _The little girl's voice was badly shaken now as she wrapped her arms around herself as though her father were there to embrace her. "_DADDY!" _Her voice was deafening as the pulsating humming grew to its final chorus. The room flooded with light, blinding every one, before everything suddenly stopped. The humming disappeared and as everyone adjusted their eyes, they looked around to see that everything in the room had turned off. There were no more lights on any of the machines. It was just…..dark.

Tony hadn't moved the whole time, he just kept staring at the work bench where the fog was now dissipating. His mind was awash with thoughts of hatred for The Mandarin and Gable, who had been associated with him. But the look in that little girl's eyes…. "Well…" he said. "I'll be damned."


End file.
